About Picus vaillantii (Malherbe, 1847)
Levaillant's woodpecker, with the scientific name Picus vaillantii (Malherbe, 1847), measures 30–33 cm in length and has a 45–51 cm wingspan. It is very similar to the European green woodpecker and the Iberian Green woodpecker, especially the females of these species. Both Levaillant's woodpecker and the Iberian Green woodpecker were formerly classified as subspecies of Picus viridis. The upperparts of Levaillant's woodpecker are dark green, while its underparts are yellowish green, and it has a crimson nape. Its black moustache stripe has a pale border above it. The rump is chrome yellow, and the outer webs of the primary flight feathers are barred black and white. The bill and feet are slate grey. The sexes are similar in appearance, except that the male has a crimson crown, while the female has a grey crown. Like Picus viridis sharpei, both sexes of this species lack the black coloration on the lores and around the eye that is present in most forms of green woodpecker. The call of Levaillant's woodpecker is a loud ringing laugh, rendered as plue, plue, plue, that is very similar to the yaffle call of the European green woodpecker, but is perhaps slightly faster. Levaillant's woodpecker is distributed across the three Maghreb countries of northwest Africa: Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. It breeds in mountain forests up to the treeline at around 2000m.
